The Ravel and Kodaly
are classics of the duo repertoire and
have been coupled on disc before, not
least by Nigel Kennedy and Lynn Harrell
recently on EMI. The Treiber is a premiere
recording of a piece written in 2002.
That said these are works that are difficult
to programme, both on disc and in the
recital hall, and require unanimity
of thought and cohesion in matters of
bowing and tone colour to make their
optimum effect. Big personalities such
as Kennedy and Harrell bring reserves
of bravura but less extrovert duos,
such as Juillet and Mørk, bring
their own sense of intimacy and drama.

Drechsler and Gieron
are both members of the Baden Staatskapelle
in Karlsruhe and make a sympathetic
pairing, both clearly attuned to each
other’s playing and phrasing. The studio
acoustic is somewhat resonant which
can make for diffusion but the balance
between instruments is just. The all-important
dialogue between voices is caught well
in the Allegro though maybe the second
movement (Très vif) could go
with greater incision. The Lent third
movement, that so clearly looks back
to the great Passacaille of the Piano
Trio of 1914, is veiled and intimate,
drawing the listener in and not projecting
out, whilst there’s fine march rhythms
in the finale. That Ravel knew Kodály’s
own Duo of 1914 seems fairly certain.
Its turbulent relationship with sonata
form development is all to the good,
yielding moments of ripe lyricism and
intensity – the cello’s breadth of phrasing
in the opening movement is matched by
a palpable sense of unease – well picked
up by the German duo. Coursing throughout
the Duo is of course folk music – and
they bring out, but don’t over egg,
the drunken folk fiddle motif in the
finale as indeed they do the palpable
sense of improvisatory freedom Kodály
has so splendidly ensured is heard.
The drones and powerful sonorities may
be more tensile elsewhere and the cut
and thrust of Kennedy-Harrell may be
more obviously virtuosic (to say nothing
of the classic Heifetz-Piatigorsky)
but these young musicians clearly know
their way around this difficult score.

Felix Treiber was born
in 1960 and studied violin under Wolfgang
Marschner. He founded the Spohr Quartet
and became deputy leader of the same
orchestra in which Drechsler and Gieron
now play. He’s now an artistic director
and composer and wrote his Intermezzos
for the string duo to play. There are
actually nine of them but in this performance
– which is actually the world premiere
– they have selected six for a cycle.
The six feed on contrasts, moving from
the fiery opener (Furioso) to the eerily
withdrawn No.2 (marked Tranquillo,
teneramente). The most compelling
however is No.4, a tension filled fantasia
full of space and silent bars though
the final of the presented six mines
a sense of stasis with quiet flair.

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